First Day of First Grade

Today was Wyatt's first day of school. He said he was a little nervous, but we couldn't tell. It is amazing how much he has changed from kindergarten to first grade.

This was his first day of kindergarten.

And this is his first day of first grade. He went from little boy to young man in the blink of an eye.

Last year he got teary as soon as he sat down but not this year. He couldn't wait for us to leave so he could get to coloring.

Wyatt was all smiles at the end of the day. He loves his teacher and loved everything about his day, especially playing outside. I suppose some things will never change. He is thrilled that he will have science this year and thinks it will be his favorite subject. His teacher read books today and he got to read a book on his own. He didn't get to eat much of his lunch because "the kindergarteners took too long." He is ready to go back tomorrow. I hope this year is as wonderful as K-5 was.

Retro Vintage

While rummaging through my old belongings at my parent's house, I came across a little treasure. I found the most fantastic outfit that my grandmother, Snook, made for me a very long time ago. I wore it and then my dolls wore it. It now fits my little life-sized doll, so she had to wear it, polyester and all. To make it even more hip, I dressed Sadie in the shoes I made and the matching hairband that I tried my hand at. I thought she pulled off the look stunningly.

Just don't mind that it came unsnapped while I was trying to get some pictures. Or that Callie is playing with the cell phone in the bottom of the picture. Or that there is a really huge box fan in the background. If those things bother you, then please let my husband know that I need a camera that is capable of blurring all those things out!

Not What I Had in Mind

A couple of weeks ago I packed up our inflatable pool. We played with it for a while but then the kids seemed to lose interest and we had to change the water every few days, so I was tired of fooling with it. The past couple of days have been kind of toasty, and Wyatt really wanted to play in the pool again. Today, trying to be a "fun mom," I re-inflated the pool. Then on my hands and knees with towels and cleaner, I cleaned the dried-on gunk off the bottom of sides of the pool. Once filled with water, the pool looked so shiny and inviting.

I should have known the kids would have a completely different idea of fun. My first sign of trouble should have been when they threw the bucket in the water. Wyatt, the brainchild of the day's events, then oversaw the making of clay. Oh joy.

Here they are at work. Wyatt was in charge of procuring the dirt. Callie's task was filling the purple bucket with fresh, clean, crisp, cool pool water, so she is running off to get said water. Sadie was in charge of guarding the mixing station.

Once there was water and dirt, the mixing began. In the back of Callie's tricycle.

Sadie took a break long enough to pose for a picture. This was prior to tasting the clay.

Wyatt was busy but he generously let me take a picture. Callie, on the other hand, got bored and started playing on the swing and wouldn't cooperate for a picture.

The clay turned into a wonderful mud pie that Wyatt was very proud of.

Wyatt even let Sadie work on it with her stick.

It wasn't what I had in mind but they had fun. And no, I did not let them rinse off in the pool. They had to be clean before getting in the pool. Maybe I didn't earn the maximum number of "cool mom" points today. Oh well.

Just Because

Just because purple doesn't go with everything, I decided the little miss needed some pink shoes as well. And as a bonus, they match the shirt I previously decorated.

I really need to stop sewing and start cleaning my house. Cleaning just isn't quite as much fun, though.

Crafting

Crafting is fun. The problem is, I don't seem to have much time to sit down and craft. The past few days I have been on a sewing kick, so I have gotten quite a bit done. My not-so-fun projects were tightening the elastic on four pairs of Wyatt's school shorts and one pair of Callie's pants. To balance out the much needed clothes repairs, I tried out some new ideas and am quite pleased with the results.

First off, I made Callie a new bow for her hair. I originally pictured the flower as part of a headband, but I am not successful at keeping those in Callie's hair. So I thought I would try it on a barrette. It looks cute but I am not sure how practical it is going to be. When I snap the barrette, I keep losing beads. Oh well. It didn't take much time and was fun to try. I am sure I can find another way to decorate with it.

Secondly, I had a cute shirt for Miss Sadie but it had two holes right in the front. Using an idea I saw at a crafting fair, I embellished the shirt with scraps of material and successfully covered the holes. I am really excited about Sadie being able to wear it soon.

The shirt before

The shirt after

My biggest project came from Sadie's need for shoes. Jason and I aren't huge fans of shoes for our children, especially before they start walking. Sadie has spent most of her life barefoot. She is finally starting to walk a little, mainly while pushing toys. Two times last week she cut open her big toe while playing outside. So I decided she might need the protection of shoes. My most favorite shoe for little kids is Robeez. Wyatt had a few pairs but Callie was never able to wear them due to her braces so I don't have any girl shoes. I also don't particularly care for the price of the shoes. So I used my Googling skills and found a pattern to make shoes. And once again, using material scraps, I made Sadie some shoes. I am quite excited about them and am already thinking of some different material combinations to try. Sadie might go from not owning any shoes to owning a pair for each day of the month!

Sadie Rose

Sadie, our little Norwegian. Jason and I are still trying to figure out her blond hair and blue eyes. I guess if you live in the Midwest long enough, you start having Midwestern babies.

Sadie is 98% pure sweetness and 2% pure rotten. She loves to be entertained by Wyatt, and she loves to push all of Callie's buttons. My hope is that one day they will get along. Callie is taller but Sadie almost weighs as much as her older sister. Sadie enjoys wrestling with Callie and if Callie makes her mad, she doesn't hesitate to retaliate.

Sadie is generally happy from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed. She loves to eat. She loves to scream. She is, by far, the loudest of my children, and quite possibly, the loudest child I have ever heard. I really think she could shatter a glass. Screaming is her way of letting us know she is not happy with her current situation and I still am not sure how to deal with that. Sadie is stubborn when it comes to walking. She will take a few steps but then drops to crawling. She talks up a storm but in her own language. She has an infectious laugh. She adores animals. She gets so excited when she sees a cat or dog or even a picture of animals.

Sadie waiting for breakfast with her baby doll.

We had a friend take some pictures of us yesterday, and I love the ones of Sadie. She was a lot of fun to photograph.